City offices to reopen Jan. 3; Christmas tree pickup available
WATSONVILLE — City offices will reopen on Jan. 3 after the holiday closure.
From Jan. 8-12, residents can place their Christmas trees on the curbside next to their garbage bin on their regularly scheduled pick-up day. Remove the stand, lights, tinsel and all other ornaments.
Christmas trees can also be dropped off at the Garbage and Recycling Center at 320 Harvest Drive.
For information, call 768-3133.
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Sommer promoted to RDO store manager
WATSONVILLE — RDO Equipment Co. and RDO Water in Watsonville named Kenny Sommer new store manager.
Effective immediately, Sommer is leading store operations, which includes both RDO Equipment Co.’s agriculture and lawn and garden equipment offerings, and RDO Water’s irrigation solutions.
Originally from the Twin Cities area, Sommer began his career with RDO Equipment Co. in 2014 at the Burnsville, Minn. construction store. After moving to California to take a temporary position in the Salinas store, he transitioned to parts manager of RDO Water – Salinas and Watsonville in January 2016.
“Coming from the Midwest, the agriculture and irrigation business is very different here,” he said. “I’m eager to spend more time with our customers, understand their business, challenges and needs, and offer them better service.”
With the Watsonville store offering both equipment and irrigation, Sommer believes his experience puts him in a good position to lead a “total solutions” approach, saying, “One of my main focuses is driving our single-service enterprise. Having worked on both the RDO Equipment Co. and RDO Water sides of the business, I’m excited to partner with department managers to offer more total solutions opportunities to our customers.”
Ted Mills, general manager of RDO Equipment Co. in Salinas and Watsonville, agrees that Sommer’s broad-base knowledge is an asset and is confident that both customers and team members will benefit from him leading the store.
“Kenny’s background in different divisions of the company as well as departments within stores is a great foundation for the role of store manager,” Mills said. “Combined with his professionalism and can-do attitude, he’ll provide great leadership to our team and it will result in better experiences for customers.”
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Aptos/La Selva Fire offering CPR classes
APTOS — The Aptos/La Selva Fire Protection District is offering free CPR classes.
The classes will take place Jan. 16 from 6-8 p.m., Feb. 15 from 6-8 p.m. and March 17 from 10 a.m. to noon.
The class is not a professional certification, but serves as a basic instruction for adult, infant and child CPR, as well as a brief segment on defibrillator pad use. Minors welcome, with adult supervision.
Classes are held at the Administration Office, in the upstairs meeting room at 6934 Soquel Drive, Aptos (ADA lift available in rear of building). Space is limited, so early registration is recommended.
To register, contact Admin. Asst. Sarah Melton at 685-6690 or [email protected].
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County accepting early property tax payments
SANTA CRUZ COUNTY — Due to recent federal legislation impacting the deductibility of state and local taxes, a number of residents have inquired about early payments and prepayments of property taxes prior to Jan. 1, 2018.
The county will accept early payments for the second installment of 2017-18 property tax bills, which are due in February and not considered delinquent until April 2018. The county will also accept early payments of supplemental property tax bills due to a change of ownership or the completion of new construction.
However, the county cannot accept prepayments or deposits on future property tax bills that have not been issued. Residents have several options for property taxes payments, including:
• Online e-check. Go to www.co.santa-cruz.ca.us/Departments/TaxCollector.aspx for details.
• Credit or debit card. There is a 2.5 percent convenience fee for using your credit card to pay your property taxes.
• In person. Go to 701 Ocean St., Santa Cruz, Room 150, through Friday, Dec. 29. Office hours are 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Mailed payments may be sent to the Treasurer-Tax Collector’s Office at P.O. Box 1817, Santa Cruz, 95061-1817. Make sure payments are postmarked no later than Dec. 31, and to include your parcel number on your check and payment stub, if available.
Use of “bill pay” services via financial institutions does not guarantee timely payment, and is not recommended at this time.
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Presentations highlighted in annual SkeptiCamp
SEASIDE — SkeptiCamp Monterey 2018, a day of free presentations on critical thinking, skepticism, science and related topics, is scheduled for Jan. 6 from 10 a.m.-4 p.m.
Co-hosted by Monterey County Skeptics and the Humanist Association of the Monterey Bay Area, SkeptiCamp Monterey will feature a variety of speakers who are active nationally or locally in the skeptic community.
Presentations will take a skeptical look at a variety of topics. Speakers this year include Bay Area physicist Leonard Tramiel, science activist Susan Gerbic of Salinas, political blogger Glenn Church of North Monterey County, Monterey Peninsula writer Arlen Grossman, and “Data Skeptic” Kyle Polich of Los Angeles, who regularly blogs and podcasts on statistics, big data, artificial intelligence and data science.
The event begins with a casual get-together on Jan. 5 from 6:30-9:30 p.m. at Seaside Embassy Suites restaurant, 1441 Canyon Del Rey Blvd.
The main event on Jan. 6 includes short presentations at Seaside Community Center, 220 Coe Ave., near Seaside High School from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Sandwiches, chips and drinks will be available for sale during the lunch break. Attendees may bring a bag lunch if they prefer.
The event is free and open to the public, but space is limited and RSVPs can be made through Eventbrite or by emailing [email protected]. Donations on the day of the event are appreciated.
Skepticism is a worldwide movement that promotes critical thinking and evaluation of pseudoscience and paranormal claims based on scientific evidence rather than faith.
The Monterey County Skeptics meets monthly. For information, visit www.meetup.com/monterey-county-skeptics.
